A new procedure for static analysis of thermo-electric laminated composite plates under cylindrical bending

Using the basic coupled thermo-electro-elastic differential equations, this paper presents a new concise procedure for obtaining the static exact solution of composite laminates with piezo-thermo-elastic layers under cylindrical bending. A simple eigenvalue formula in real number form is obtained directly from a set of first-order homogeneous differential equations thus avoiding the difficulty of treating complex eigenvalues. The solution, formulated as a trigonometric series, applies for both thin and thick plates. The analytical examples demonstrate the complexity of both the stress distribution and the deformation response when combined loading conditions are considered. The results presented can be used as benchmarks for numerical results obtained by numerical methods or experiment.